Monthly Archives: March 2014

I was out for coffee the other day with a non-tweeting friend. “So what’s Twitter actually like?” she asked.

I ummed and ahhed, and explained it all very badly, mumbling some fairly dry stuff about retweets and hashtags and follows. She didn’t look convinced. So I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and here’s what I’ve come up with.

Working on this table I look back over the 20 years I had been director of a Waste Management company. Not a job I had picked when I left school, but who really knows what occupation is going to pay the bills when leaving school?

i was going to be an Astronaut

At school I demanded I was going to be an Astronaut, but when that wasnt achievable, an electrician, then fate had steered me in another direction and i became an Entreprenuer!
Having your own business has its own rewards, upsets and responsibilities: but the goals, achievements and direction are your own. It was being in the waste business so long that gave me ideas for making use of our mountains of unwanted things. Now i set upon restoring and upcycling furniture in my own unique way.

E Gomme Ltd, famously known as G-Plan

This English made Coffee Table came to me via a second hand furniture shop in Paignton Devon. It was originally made in the 1950s by E Gomme Ltd, famously known as G-Plan, who at the time made very high quality Danish style furniture from their Birch premises at High Wycombe in the glorious royal county of Buckinghamshire.

high-quality arts and craft furniture

This group of buildings was originally owned by Wm Birch Limited, manufacturers of high-quality arts and craft furniture. The three-storey factory was newly built in 1901 with a later four-storey range built fronting at Leigh Street in 1913 by Architect Thomas Thurlow. Time marches on and so production finished sometime in the 1990s: the site now has been developed for offices and mixed commercial use.

With this heritage in mind I want to reveal the quality of the fine workmanship found in the jointing and the use of different timbers to great effect in the top.

You realise the quality of materials

I have stripped off the layer of varnish to show the natural bare wood(pic), which i have now polished with beeswax.
The base is jointed with mortice and tenons, and originally painted with a black gloss that I have brought up to date with several coats of Blue Teal, sanded and polished.

You realise the quality of materials used when you see the solid brass adjustable feet and leg caps, which i have polished with brass cleaner.

reflecting Mid Century ideals

I love this piece and I am really impressed with the level of quality in its original manufacture. Growing up in the 80s this style of furniture went out of fashion in the UK, to be replaced by Scandinavian Pine. Fashions change and the classic simplicity of this style is back! reflecting Mid Century ideals of technology, the Atomic Age and the Space Race.

Sandra used to be a Carer, loves chocolate pudding, and regularly visits our shop.
She lives around the corner from the shop, beside the church and above the barbers shop, where she has a cosy snug cabin at the end of their garden. In this cabin, they both enjoy their time in the quiet reading the paper, watching the wildlife, and relaxing. Lovely!
The snug cabin is kitted out quite comfortably with the basic requirements: chair, cupboards, light and table. Over christmas, they decided to change the table.
After the christmas holidays had ended, Jo was working on the sale tickets in the shop when in she come and said ” can you recycle and old table?” : Jo agreed to send me round to have a look.
I found a 1970s Danish style G-Plan Drop-Leaf table sat centre stage in the cabin, waiting to be collected. Sandra knew i am a sucker for a new project, and that we needed one for a new dining shop display, so i obliged and said yes and her dad gave me a hand to carry it to the van.

This is why they were so popular for over 30 years!

It was in good clean condition, which is quite unusual for most of my recycling projects!
The table could seat six at a push, and didnt come with any chairs, so i may have to find those. Its original teak veneer is polished to a semi gloss finish and exposes the light golden grain. The two tapered ends drop neatly down when the supports are folded inwards and under, revealing a neat quarter moulded edge. The whole finish to the frame is smooth and rounded danish style, not a harsh corner in sight. This table amazingly folds down to virtually no space at all, this is why they were so popular for over 30 years!

the hardest part was deciding on the design!

The hardest part of this project for me was not the actual work, although the detail of the artwork was quite a challenge: the hardest part was deciding on the design!
I had found my inspiration when i researched the internet, trendy furniture shops, Kirsty Allsop Homemade Home show (@KirstieMAllsopp), and George Clarkes Amazing Spaces https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeClarkesAmazingSpaces. The best way to attack this was to make a plan of the design and practice some of the techniques.

I had already collected scraps of wallpaper and cuttings of floral designs i had found, so i could use these as decoupage within the design. I would make a large square of rose patterned paper the dominant block in the centre of the table and embellish with additional artwork around it.
Giving the table a good all over rough sanding to remove dirt and varnish, i then added a sound coat of chalk emulsion that was rubbed down to a smooth finish using fine sandpaper. This gives a good base to apply the paper design and paint on the final decoration.

you only grow when you seek to improve yourself

I could imagine the incredible flowing artwork used on traditional Gypsy caravans as the final decoration on my table, but these techniques take years to master, i would have to apply them in weeks. I had found much useful resource on YouTube, particularly with Nick Dows work. He famously restored a Romany Caravan for Ronnie Wood and you can watch him talking on the subject of gypsy art, life and his blues band http://youtu.be/9O8LyVnz9ls
My efforts are simple by comparison but you only grow when you seek to improve yourself.

Further reference on the subject of traditional gypsy caravans, their restoration, art, furniture and lifestyle can be found at http://www.gypsy-wagons.com. This site represents the Ingham and Fallon families, who are the oldest Irish families still living the traditional lifestyle in the UK.